The described aspects relate generally to wireless communication systems. More particularly, the described aspects relate to techniques for providing discoverable offload services via a neutral host network (NHN).
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. One example of such a network is UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). UTRAN is the radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies, currently supports various air interface standards, such as Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA). UMTS also supports enhanced 3G data communications protocols, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), which provides higher data transfer speeds and capacity to associated UMTS networks. Furthermore, UMTS supports multiple radio access bearer (multi-RAB) capability, which allows simultaneous network communication with a user equipment (UE) over two or more radio access bearers. Therefore, in an aspect, multi-RAB functionality in UMTS allows for a UE to concurrently transmit and receive packet-switched (PS) and circuit-switched (CS) data.
There may be instances in which a mobile network may find it difficult to provide network services and/or a certain level of quality of service to subscribers of the mobile network. For example, in large gatherings, such as sporting events or concerts, the mobile network may not have the capacity to provide network services to all subscribers that want those services. As such, it may be desirable if another network can provide network services to offload the mobile network such that the subscriber experience may be improved.